The Royal Botanical Gardens of Peradeniya is one of the most beautiful places of the island. It is located about 5.5 kilometres west of the city of Kandy in the central Sri Lanka province and attracts 1.2 million visitors annually. The garden is famous for for its collection of diverse plants, which includes over 300 species of orchids, spices, medicinal plants and palms. The total area of the botanical Botanical Garden is 147 acres (0.59 square kilometres). It is administered by the Division of the National Botanical Garden of the Department of Agriculture Sri Lanka.
The origins of the botanical garden go back as far as 1371, when the King Vikramabahu III ascended the throne and moved his court to Peradeniya near the the Mahaveli River. He was followed by King Kirti Sri and King Rajadhi Rajavinje. A temple at this place was built by King Vimala Dharma, but it was destroyed by the by the British after they gained control over the kingdom of Kandy. After that. the foundation for the botanical garden was laid by Alexandar Lunu in 1821. The botanical garden at Peradeniya was formally established in 1843 with plants, imported from Kew Garden, Slave Island, Colombo, and the Kalutara Garden in Kalutara. In 1844, under George Gardner, the garden grew tremendously and gained great and became very famous. In 1912, the garden came under the custody of the Department of Agriculture Sri Lanka.
The garden also contains an avenue of palm trees. An amazing tree grows there, planted by King George V and Queen Mary of the United Kingdom in 1901. 1901. The branches of the tree are bent downwards under the weight of the fruit, which look like cannonballs.
During the Second World War, Lord Louis Mountbatten, the supreme commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in South Asia, used the Botanic Gardens as the headquarters of the General Command of South East Asia.
